Thoughts in the Night
by Dr. Christie
Summary: Jack Harkness is wandering Cardiff streets at night when he sees a familiar object. Jack Harkness oneshot.


_This is just a Torchwood/Doctor Who Jack Harkness oneshot. I'm not sure it's that good, just kept bugging me._**  
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**Thoughts in the Night**

It was about three in the morning and a tall man wearing an old air force jacket was walking across the street in Cardiff.

Captain Jack Harkness had taken to wandering the streets at night, not sure what for, when he couldn't sleep, which was most nights. He just thought about his team, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Gwen Cooper, and Ianto.

Ianto Jones. He bowed his head. He didn't know what he was doing. Yeah, he liked Ianto, yeah he pretended he just wanted him for a quick shag-

Wait, _pretended?_ No he wasn't _pretending_. It was the truth, he didn't have feelings for Ianto, he lied to himself. Ianto was just another guy, some passing thing, he would probably forget him years after he had died.

_No._ A voice said firmly in his head.

_What?_ He thought, and stopped with a smile, he was starting to sound like an old friend. _Getting old._

He thought back to what he had been thinking. He would probably forget Ianto after a while. The _Doctor_ didn't even know exactly what would happen to Jack. But it was true, he would probably forget that man.

_NO._ What was going on? Then he realized, it was him thinking that.

"Great, I'm starting to argue with myself," He muttered, getting strange looks from a young couple walking by, "In my _head._" He shot the two an identical look. _Oh, like I'm the weird one, walking around Cardiff at three in the morning._

The girl, a red head, rolled her eyes and the man whose arm she was holding.

Jack kept walking. He didn't even noticed where he was walking until he almost smashed his nose into something.

Something very large.

Something very familiar.

Something very blue.

Jack froze and stared at the police box. He backed away slowly until he turned around and walked quickly to the opposite side of the street. He wanted to make sure before he went barging in. If he was in there it could become very complicated. He didn't remember coming to Cardiff at three in the morning, but the Doctor wasn't always the most reliable pilot. How would Jack know if the Doctor hadn't sneakily taken off a minute after he landed, seeing he'd gotten it wrong…again.

Jack took his place in an alleyway, not wanting to be seen if someone came out of the TARDIS. He needed to be careful. He didn't know which one the Doctor was. The big-eared one with Rose, the tall, messy haired one with Martha Jones or some new(or old) regeneration Jack hadn't met yet.

If this had been a few years before Jack would have been banging on the door like he wanted to break it down. But now Jack had had time to think, as he had told the Doctor.

He thought over his life, how much it had changed.

He had been a Time Agent, then an about-to-be-executed one, then a con-man, then a time traveler, and then so many more. The Doctor had made him immortal.

Not directly, it had been Rose. Jack went through the memories of her. Her smile, her laugh, her way to always make him feel better. He wished quietly that this Doctor he was waiting for to come out of the TARDIS was with Rose. He wanted to see her again.

He had visited her place, every now and then, to watch her grow up, but now she was gone. _Dead_. He thought, remembering the pain of seeing her name on the list of the dead after Canary Wharf.

He took a deep breath and started to unlock hidden away memories that before had caused him too much pain. They weren't sad memories, they were in fact the opposite.

Sitting in a small restaurant with the Doctor and Rose, just eating chips. Happy, not having to run from monsters or aliens. Just friends sitting around, laughing at some bad joke.

He so wanted to go and knock on the blue doors, to run away from Torchwood… and Ianto, he let himself admit it. Run away from the pain that would eventually come. He knew one day it would happen, it always did, that he would have to erase the records, try to forget.

But he wouldn't forget, he now let it happen. He promised himself he would never forget Ianto.

He loved Ianto.

He took a deep breath, just as the doors to the TARDIS opened.

A young man with brown hair swept over one eye, wearing a tweed jacket and a bowtie stepped out. Jack couldn't help but laugh, the Doctor would always amaze him. The way he could make armies turn and run away just at his name, the way he could save whole planets, civilizations and species, and just wear some crazy ensemble. Jack _had_ found his way into the Doctor's old clothes. He'd found the scarf, and some pictures.

He was smiling now.

The Doctor turned and locked the doors. "Well then Ponds!" He walked towards the couple Jack had walked into earlier, they had stopped and were sitting on a bench. "I realize I was a bit off. This isn't the city I was going for. Or even the planet," he muttered, making Jack grin, "The TARDIS needs a little time to cool off, we should go find something to do."

"Doctor," the red head spoke up, she had a strong Scottish accent, "Where are we anyways."

"Ah," The Doctor raised a hand, "Well, maybe… more or less… Cardiff, Whales. Earth. Earlyish 2009."

The young man with them rolled his eyes, "Great, and it looks like it's the middle of the night."

"Yeahhhh, sorry about that," The Doctor awkwardly turned around and started walking off to who knows where, "Well come on Ponds. Let's explore."

He suddenly caught sight of Jack, leaning against the side of a building in the alley. He gave him a small nod.

Jack returned it with a smile. He knew from the Doctor's sad look that something bad was coming for Jack, but Jack had decided now.

He had his place, and that was with Torchwood. He nodded to the Doctor and walked out of the alley and down the street, heading towards the Hub, leaving the Doctor and the TARDIS behind him.

**Hope you liked it. Please please please please please review.**

**Oh and just fyi, this is set about a month before Children of the Earth(Torchwood wise) and anytime after A Christmas Carol(In Doctor Who).**


End file.
